Before the Exam and the Return

For several months after Happy and Romeo's birth, the guild was peaceful and quiet, with no major incidents occurring.

Eleven finally got to quietly boost his performance for a few months, and although the losses were still considerable, the success rate of his missions was 100%, which was something to be proud of.

All of this effort was naturally in preparation for the major test to come: the S-Class Promotion Trial.

Makarov has not yet announced the list of participants for the test, so everyone still has a chance. They are all putting in their best effort to complete the task. Even Nazgre has been much more well-behaved lately, and his task completion rate has obviously increased.

Even the usually laid-back Cana has been incredibly motivated lately, seemingly making becoming S-Class her goal. She's started training diligently and sometimes even has the idea of sparring with Eleven, which startled Eleven, who thought he'd made a mistake.

Mira and Erza, needless to say, are two sworn enemies who are always arguing about who will be the first to become S-Class in this trial, as if the old man would definitely let them participate.

Looking at the bustling, vibrant scene in the guild, Eleven felt a little out of place. This positive and energetic guild was nothing like Fairy Tail.

I always felt that the guild should be... well... a bit more slovenly and decadent...

Eleven even began to suspect that it was all a conspiracy by the old man, that there was no S-Class Trial at all, and that it was all just a carrot dangling in front of everyone by the old man to make these foolish donkeys run.

"No way! I'm going crazy if the old man doesn't release the personnel list soon!"

Eleven clenched his fists and slammed them violently on the table, startling a nearby mage who was eating noodles. The mage inhaled the noodles into his nose and quickly moved away from the lunatic.

At that moment, a cool and arrogant voice came coldly from behind Eleven.

"Heh, what? You don't even have the confidence to be chosen to participate in the trial? Then I suggest you quit as soon as possible, otherwise once you meet me, you'll see what true despair is!"

Without even turning around to look at Eleven, he knew that the owner of that voice must be Laxus. Only this guy could say such cringeworthy and childish things so seriously.

"Yo! Laxus, long time no see. Hope you're not missing any limbs?" Eleven didn't respond to Laxus's comment, but greeted him with a smile. This kind of playful banter had basically become their daily routine when they met.

"Snort!"

Laxus snorted coldly and said nothing, then plopped down on the noodles that the other person had just spat out of his nose. Eleven saw this, his lips twitched slightly, but he forcibly suppressed his laughter and chatted with Laxus as if nothing had happened.

He forcefully instilled his conspiracy theories about the old man into Laxus. At first, Laxus looked at Eleven as if he were an idiot, but later he was actually starting to believe him, began to question his own existence, and fell into Eleven's rhythm.

However, just as Eleven was about to completely fool Laxus suddenly started swaying, then slammed his head on the table with a thud and fell asleep immediately.

Holy crap? Am I talking so boringly? Do I really need to be this sleepy?

However, Eleven didn't dwell on it for long, because he soon discovered that everyone else in the guild had also fallen asleep at the same time.

An unusual magical fluctuation permeated the air, drawing everyone into a dream. Looking around, the only two people in the entire guild who were still awake were Eleven and Makarov.

Even Makarov's eyelids were drooping, and he had to force down a swig of alcohol to regain some of his sobriety.

"Is this Sleep Magic?" Eleven stood up, quickly walked to Makarov's side, and asked in a low voice.

Speaking of Sleep Magic, Eleven suddenly remembered someone, a savior who had decided to live in anonymity from then on.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen that guy since we parted ways last time. Oh, he's still alive!

Sure enough, before Makarov could answer, a figure completely wrapped in black cloth slowly walked in through the doorway.

The newcomer was none other than Mystogan. Although his appearance had changed slightly, becoming even more bizarre, Eleven was all too familiar with this style that exuded swagger even without uttering a word. No one but Mystogan could possess such an aura.

"Guild Master, I'm back to turn in my mission. This time... uh, Eleven? Why aren't you asleep...?"

When Mystogan walked in, he went straight to Makarov in the center of the bar without looking to either side. The mask on his face also partially obscured his vision, so he didn't notice that there were other people who hadn't been hypnotized. Therefore, when Eleven suddenly jumped out and approached him, he was startled, his silent and mysterious demeanor instantly shattered.

"What are you doing, kid? How did you manage to put everyone in the guild to sleep?" Eleven wasn't going to mince words with Mystogan; he went up and ripped off his mask, saying irritably.

"Um... because I don't want everyone to see me, this is the most efficient way." Mystogan's lips twitched. He had only just realized that hypnosis didn't work on Eleven, but he wasn't too bothered by it. Anyway, he had never been able to do anything with Eleven, so the ineffectiveness of hypnosis was normal.

Eleven was equally speechless after hearing Mystogan's words, unsure whether to feel sorry for him or disgusted. Logically speaking, it was rather pitiful that this kid couldn't show his true face to people, but his way of hiding from people wasn't to hide himself, but to knock everyone else unconscious.

If I can hypnotize everyone who sees me, I'll become invisible. What kind of bullshit logic is that?!

This is really annoying, okay? Didn't you see the bartender even knocked over the tray?

This guy's hypocritical appearance is definitely no good.

For a moment, the two looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to say.

Just then, the great bell at the top of the Magnolia Cathedral suddenly rang, followed by a crackling sound from the ground, and countless magical trumpets flew into the air.

"Attention residents, Magnolia is about to enter Gildarts Mode. Please proceed to your designated positions."

"Oh? You're finally back?" Makarov's lips curled up slightly upon hearing the commotion; he had been waiting impatiently for this day.

The assessment can finally begin!

Mystogan was also startled by the noise. He was most afraid that such an unexpected event would expose his identity. He quickly pulled up his mask, grabbed a mission sheet, showed it to Makarov, and hurriedly ran outside.

But Eleven grabbed his cloak and caught up with him from behind. "Hey, aren't you staying to participate in the S-Class Exam?"

Mystogan didn't turn around, but sighed, "Let's talk about it another time."

"Oh, okay then. Oh, and don't forget to undo the Sleep Magic."

"Don't worry, I won't forget, five, four, three..."

As Mystogan walked out, he calmly counted down. The countdown ended the moment he stepped out of the guild's gate, and the hypnotized group instantly woke up, looking around in confusion.

"Damn, what a show-off!"